(Written for our church’s bulletin – East Doncaster Baptist Church (30th April, 2011).
Rowland Croucher: (A Little of) My Story
In his new book Falling Upward Richard Rohr quotes a Native American aphorism: ¢â‚¬ËœNo wise person ever wanted to be younger ¢â‚¬â„¢. (His theme: ¢â‚¬ËœThe way up is the way down [or] the way down is the way up ¢â‚¬â„¢). I like it!
I was a ¢â‚¬Ëœpre-war baby ¢â‚¬â„¢, (first-)born 1937 to a humble fundamentalist Brethren couple. My two younger brothers say I was the ¢â‚¬Ëœfavourite ¢â‚¬â„¢, and unfortunately they were probably right.
The Brethren taught me to read the Bible so I did so I left (as I say wryly to their pastors/elders conferences: some of them smileJ).
The next major decision I made ¢â‚¬“ 53+ years ago – was to encourage Janice Higgs to marry me. (I ¢â‚¬â„¢ve only had two 6-hour-long conversations with anyone: the first was with Jan, the second was last week in Adelaide with a dying young mum whose funeral I will conduct there tomorrow).
My roles-with-others: husband, father (x4)/grand-father (x6), pastor (these days in that order ¢â‚¬ ¦)
Pastor? Yes, except that I attend no committees! My primary clientele: pastors, ex-pastors and their spouses (John Mark Ministries), but my primary congregation is 4934 Facebook friends. (As I write, today we ¢â‚¬â„¢re discussing Chris ¢â‚¬â„¢s excellent article on ¢â‚¬ËœLove Wins ¢â‚¬â„¢).
Theologically, I ¢â‚¬â„¢m a ¢â‚¬Ëœboth/and ¢â‚¬â„¢ person as Richard Rohr puts it: on some things I ¢â‚¬â„¢m theologically conservative, on others progressive. Brian McLaren and Richard would be two primary mentors in this area.
Back to Jan: her father and brothers could fix just about anything. But I have only one pet aversion in life: rearranging physical objects. Now ¢â‚¬Ëœbig choices have consequences ¢â‚¬â„¢: when one of my ecumenical devotional books (Still Waters Deep Waters) became a 35,000-in-print best-seller my dear wife had a ¢â‚¬Ëœho hum ¢â‚¬â„¢ reaction. But when I replaced the handles on the kitchen cupboards, I was greeted with ecstatic appreciation! (PS. Those books quoted Catholics, ¢â‚¬Ëœliberals ¢â‚¬â„¢ and non-Christians so one Evangelical bookstore chain wouldn ¢â‚¬â„¢t stock it. They do now. I believe, with Augustine, that ¢â‚¬ËœAll truth is God ¢â‚¬â„¢s truth ¢â‚¬â„¢).
Because I talk to pastors I ¢â‚¬â„¢m preoccupied with their key professional questions: ¢â‚¬ËœHow can I be an effective servant of the Lord and the church but without too much stress/burnout? ¢â‚¬â„¢ ¢â‚¬ËœWhere are we going with homosexuality issues? ¢â‚¬â„¢ ¢â‚¬ËœIslam? ¢â‚¬â„¢ ¢â‚¬ËœHermeneutics? (interpreting the Bible in terms of its two contexts – Ancient Near Eastern, and today ¢â‚¬â„¢s)? ¢â‚¬â„¢
It ¢â‚¬â„¢s been a great ride: eight wonderful years at Blackburn Baptist Church (and some others), 20,000 hours of intentional pastoral counseling, a couple of hundred pastors ¢â‚¬â„¢ conferences. (The next: in a fortnight to Adelaide for an Seventh Day Aventist national educators ¢â‚¬â„¢ gathering).
Thanks EDBC for being such a wonderful community of faith, hope and love!
Ad majorem Dei gloriam
Rowland Croucher
Discussion
No comments for “My Story (Rowland Croucher)”